Getting Started - Foundations and Corporations

Are you a representative of a foundation or corporation interested in learning more about funding some of the exciting work we do here at Middlebury? Please contact us!

Getting Started - Campus Constituents

Talk with your department chair and your dean about your ideas and how to carry them forward. If your project is institutional in nature, you should reach out to us and to Middlebury’s VPAA to strategize the best plan to garner external support. Determine what institutional support there may be for your project; often foundations want to see that the institution has made its own commitment to the project being proposed.

How can the Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs help me?Our office maintains relationships with a number of foundations. In these cases, we can share our direct knowledge of the foundation and, frequently, we can provide information or insights not available through the foundations’ web sites. In general, we can assist you in identifying appropriate foundation, corporate, or governmental funding opportunities and strategizing an approach. We may be able to put you in touch with others at Middlebury and elsewhere who are involved in similar projects or related research. We can also keep your focus area in mind and contact you if we notice that a particular foundation initiative dovetails with your project. The decision to approach a foundation for support of an institutional initiative is one that must be made in consultation with the VPAA and our office. As you move forward, we can consult with you on writing the proposal, preparing the budget, and reporting on your results.

Who contacts the foundation?We will work with you to determine how the project can best be presented and by whom. The initial contact might be a phone call, a letter, a proposal, or a meeting. Members of our staff may have personal contacts (program officer, colleague at another institution, faculty member, board member) who can advise on the most effective approach and give additional guidance regarding the funding process.

Do foundations allow indirect costs?Some funders, especially government agencies, allow the inclusion of indirect costs in the budget, usually at a rate that has been negotiated between the College and the Department of Health and Human Services. When such costs are to be recovered, they are built into the proposal budget from the outset. Most foundations, however, prohibit use of their grants for indirect costs and those that do usually set their own rate.

What are my obligations if I receive funding?The funder will spell out their expectations in an award letter that accompanies the grant. Typically, you will be required to provide narrative and financial reports periodically during the grant period. In the absence of specific directions, your report should track with the proposal you submitted to show that you accomplished the activities and goals described in the proposal.